Secure Olympics

Tuesday

Jan 28, 2014 at 2:00 AMJan 29, 2014 at 12:15 AM

Nearly seven years after the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to Sochi, Russia, we're left wondering, "What were they thinking?" Sochi, Russia's largest resort city — with a population of 343,000 in 2010 — sits on the Black Sea near the Caucasus mountains, not too far north of the terror hotbeds of Chechnya and Dagestan, and west of Volgograd, where three suicide bombings in October and December killed more than three dozen people. A video by a Dagestan organization claimed responsibility for the bombings and promised "presents" for the Olympics and visitors to the games.

Nearly seven years after the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to Sochi, Russia, we're left wondering, "What were they thinking?" Sochi, Russia's largest resort city — with a population of 343,000 in 2010 — sits on the Black Sea near the Caucasus mountains, not too far north of the terror hotbeds of Chechnya and Dagestan, and west of Volgograd, where three suicide bombings in October and December killed more than three dozen people. A video by a Dagestan organization claimed responsibility for the bombings and promised "presents" for the Olympics and visitors to the games.

Terrorism interrupted the Munich 1972 games with hostage-taking and murder over Israeli-Palestinian politics, and the Atlanta 1996 games with a bomb detonated by domestic terrorist, Eric Rudolph.

It's difficult to imagine a more treacherous location for the highly symbolic international sporting event, aside from the Mideast.

Russian control is legendary, of course, and President Vladimir Putin, a former lieutenant colonel in the Soviet-era KGB spy agency, has never had a reputation for being a pushover (his acquisition of Robert Kraft's Super Bowl ring being one mild example), and there is little doubt that Russia will do all in its power to prevent any violent disruption of the games.

Nevertheless, news reports explain Russian efforts to track down three female suicide bombers, including one already presumed to be in Sochi.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, was in Russia (joined by his colleague U.S. Rep. William Keating) last week and urged Russian intelligence services to coordinate with U.S. counterparts, since it sounds as though their "ring of steel" may have been penetrated by one of these women.

Talk of collaboration among U.S. and Russian intelligence agencies reminds us of disclosures made immediately after the Boston Marathon bombing last April. A new approach to security for high-profile athletic events comes directly from that deadly attack, apparently perpetrated by a pair of brothers with ties to the same Caucasus region.

Of course, holding the games in Sochi, Volgograd, Rio de Janiero, Beirut or Bhutan would grant no greater hope for security than any other place in the turbulent early 21st century. Violent fanatics are highly motivated, perhaps more so than Olympic athletes. After all, the three women identified by the Russians are known as "black widow" terrorists, as it is assumed they hope to avenge dead radical spouses or family members. In the context of radical Islam, there is little more motivating than that.

When the games run in early February, we'll be watching and rooting along with the world, and maybe with our fingers crossed. We hope for the success of American athletes, but also for the Russians whose job it is to protect them and everyone in Sochi.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.